The Child's Play Job
by Anonymississippi
Summary: Nate and Sophie get pickpocketed in an open air cafe, leading the team to get involved with a blackmailing video-game mogul. But this time, they have help. Or heightened responsibility. Call it what you will. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

_So, I just did a one shot with Parker and Hardison and got bit by the Leverage bug. Here's my meager attempt at a full job. Not focused on any particular character, but probably 3rd person limited for Nate just because he's always the one in charge. It's a little over half way done, so updates should be frequent. Even though I love it, I don't own any of it. TNT, Dean Devlin, Rogers and Downey, all those guys, they own this._

The Child's Play Job

"I just don't understand why we can't get our own plane. With the amount of time we spend in the air, plus the effort Hardison puts into making new IDs for us every time we fly, it could be considered an investment. We could just buy our own and keep it in Parker's mammoth of a warehouse." Sophie Devareaux sipped her coffee and passed a catalog to her dining companion.

Nate Ford sighed, placing the catalog on the outdoor café table with barely a glance. It was a nice place for a weekday brunch, and it was one of Sophie's favorites. He wasn't one for sitting outside while eating, especially near a table of some stuck-up teen princess who berated the waiter every two minutes. However, the scenery was nice in uptown Boston. The buildings weren't too high, and the sun shone brightly on the small park cattycornered from the café. There was a beautiful rose garden along the fenced-in patio area. The reds and pinks in the bushes matched Sophie's dress perfectly. No getting around it. She was beautiful. Not beautiful enough to get a plane, though.

"Sophie, you know we can't do that. There are too many outside factors. We'd have to hire a pilot."

"Hardison can learn. He flew a plane once."

"Yeah, and it almost crashed. Besides," Nate said, holding up the catalog, "who brings a _plane _catalog to a coffee date anyway?"

Sophie bent over the table and grabbed the catalog, letting her hand linger over Nate's.

"So, you decided this is a date."

Nate grinned and gave a good-natured eye roll, intertwining his fingers with Sophie's. "Look, I believe we've established that I know how to date. I can be charming. I think we have also established…" he removed his hand from hers and tossed the catalog into a nearby trashcan. "…that flirting with me does not mean you can have whatever you want, namely, an airplane."

Sophie leaned back in her chair and pouted. "It's not like we haven't gotten bigger things before. I'm just thinking of convenience for the job, Nate."

"You're thinking of convenience for yourself."

Sophie had to move her chair around closer to Nate. The teenage girl behind her had started having an obnoxiously loud conversation with someone on her phone.

"It's not just me who thinks so, Nate. Traveling can really take its toll on the team. Say Eliot gets hurt or something on a job. Should we really expect him to travel x number of hours in a coach seat while he's in pain?"

Nate saw the waiter approaching with their raspberry sorbet, hoping that getting some food in Sophie's mouth would keep her from talking about airplanes.

"Here comes the food. We can talk about this more later, can't we?"

She did stop talking about planes when the sorbet arrived, mainly because one minute it was on the waiter's tray, and the next it was in Sophie's hair. And lap. And… cleavage. Nate saw the whole thing happen, like one of those slow-motion accidents where you just can't look away. Teenage princess flung her designer purse over her shoulder, hitting the waiter in the back and sending his sorbet-laden tray toppling onto Sophie. Her face looked like Parker's did when placed in a social situation: confused, slightly frightened, and frustrated. She wiped the melting sorbet out of her eyes as both the waiter and the girl came rushing to her side.

"I'm so sorry, mam'!" The waiter said, mopping haphazardly at Sophie's body with a napkin. Nate stood to be gentlemanly, but couldn't suppress his fitful laughter.

"That's alright," Sophie said, batting his hands away from her chest area. "Here, let me have the napkin." She took it from him before he could go any further down her body. Sophie was caught between wanting to berate Nate, console the waiter, and deal with the girl who had caused the whole mess.

"Oh my gosh, I am soooooo sorry!" the girl squealed. She glared daggers at the waiter, who kept throwing glances over his shoulder as the manager looked out the window.

"That's a Chanel isn't it?" the girl asked.

"Uhm, yes, yes it is. But it'll be fine," Sophie said.

"I've got a woman who works wonders with stains like this! I insist on paying for the dry-cleaning." She kept her eyes on Sophie the whole time, helping her to stand as the raspberry goop fell out of her lap and onto the concrete.

Nate interrupted on Sophie's behalf. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. She's got a million outfits; she won't mind a little blotch on one. But, I do believe you owe an apology to this young man here," he said, gesturing toward the waiter.

Two kids from the park across the street came running through the tables, bumping the waiter over and into Nate once again. He caught the tray before the waiter could get it on his suit, and somehow managed to keep the waiter on his feet as well. Nate couldn't help feeling this guy needed a new line of work.

"Well?" Nate said, eyeing the girl.

"I'm sorry I hit you with my bag. It must be difficult being a clumsy waiter." The girl turned to Sophie again, pulling out a flowery pen and notepad. "Here's my number. Please call me if you want to get it cleaned. My dad's kind of a big deal, so don't worry about the bill." And with that she was off, hopping into a taxi as she reached for her phone again. Nate noticed she had neglected to leave a tip.

"It's alright man," he said, reaching for his wallet. "Sometimes, you just have those days. I'll get the check."

"No sir, that's alright. I can take care of it. I'd hate to make you pay for something you didn't even eat," the waiter said.

"You're not so bad, just, try staying on your feet next time," Nate said.

"Gerald!"

The waiter turned to see the manager waving angrily at him. He quickly re-gathered the dishes and hurried up to him. Nate only caught bits and pieces of the conversation, but it did not look good for Gerald. He reached for his wallet again.

"We should leave him a little something. After that, the poor kid might be out of a job."

"Suits me," Sophie said. "He needs better people skills. I mean, he called me 'mam'! Do I look like a 'mam'?"

"He was just being polite." Nate patted down his pockets, looking for his wallet. He thought he had brought it with him. He always did on his outings with Sophie. "Hey, Soph, can you get this one? I guess I didn't bring my wallet with me today."

"Of all the times to forget…" she mumbled, rummaging through her purse. "I can't believe you didn't bring any cash. First the dress, and now…" Sophie stopped, then started going through her bag a bit more frantically.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked.

"My pocketbook. It's gone."

Nate suddenly remembered, he _did_ bring his wallet to this brunch. He had really taken to heart the whole 'romantic' aspect of the job with the grifter wives, and had set out to prove he was dashing. He was going to pay for Sophie's meal, as any dashing male would. But not without a wallet he wasn't.

"Sophie…" Nate started.

"What?" she said, frustratingly broke and covered in raspberry sorbet.

"I think we've just been scammed." He took the card the girl had given to Sophie and called the number on it. A receptionist at a retirement home in Waltham answered. "Oh yeah," Nate nodded, slowly canvassing the area around him. "We just got taken. Big time."

_Reviews appreciated, as are positive resolutions for 2012!_


	2. Chapter 2

_This chapter has a lot of OC's running around, but if you stick with it our awesome team has a lot more to do in future chapters. Anywho, we've just left our heroes sans cash at a nice cafe. Of course Nate wants to investigate, with Sophie's prodding and the team's help of course. Have I mentioned this doesn't belong to me? I'm just taking it out for a spin, like Parker does when she boosts cars. Chapter two..._

"I had a 14 carat diamond bracelet in there! It had all of my cash, two driver's licenses, and my favorite shade of lipstick!"

Sophie was not taking this very well. They hiked up the stairs from the bar to Nate's apartment. "Not to mention my cell phone and the key to my condo. Guess I'll have to start scouting new places."

They stopped outside the door while Nate got his keys out.

"It's not as dramatic as all that Sophie, just change your locks."

"Sure, change my locks against people who scammed _us_. Nate, we're supposed to be the professionals. If they can pick our pockets, they can surely break into my place, changed locks or not. We're supposed to be able to spot conmen."

"I think that's just it," he said, swinging his door open.

"What's just it?" Parker was hanging upside down, legs wrapped around Nate's spiral staircase and one hand in a bag of Coco Pebbles.

"Parker, what are you doing here?" Sophie asked.

"Working, duh," she said, and wound her body off of the staircase. "These are our offices you know. Just cause you guys get all hanky panky upstairs doesn't mean this isn't a professional atmosphere."

"I don't know what's worse. Parker encouraging professionalism or the fact that she just said 'hanky panky'. I can't do this right now," Sophie said, and disappeared upstairs to change.

"What happened to her?" Parker asked.

"She's mad because her dress got stained," Nate said.

"Oh, is that all? I can get her another one."

"No, that's not it. We were…" he debated telling her this at all. It could lead to some serious ridicule from the rest of the team, and what's a few hundred dollars to them anyway? But she'd already heard them talking at the door, and it was just Parker. "We got pick-pocketed at the café. Someone got Sophie's pocketbook and my wallet."

Surprisingly, Parker didn't laugh. "It's ok big guy, happens to the best of us," she said, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Really?"

"Well, not to me, of course. Someone tried to mug me once, but I found his apartment and all of his drugs. When he came back, he was wondering where all of his furniture went," she laughed. "I burned it, and watched him detox. It was a good day."

"Well, uh, thanks Parker. We'll just get Hardison to track Sophie's phone to the last known address. If she wants her stuff that badly, we can find it that way."

"It's not that," Sophie said, descending the stairs freshly changed. "It's the principle of the matter. We go around letting people get away with stealing little things, we might as well not do what we do on the larger scale."

Eliot and Hardison quickly came in, cutting Sophie off.

"Boy, what'd I tell you about them conventions! You told me there would be sword fighting."

"Hey, hey now, hold up. I said sword fighting, yeah, and there _was_. It just, happened to be, you know, sword-fighting hobbits."

"Hardison, next time, I pick what we're doing."

Parker, perched on the counter, swung her feet between the two fighting guys. "Sorry to break up your bromance spat, but Sophie and Nate just got robbed!"

"What?" Eliot asked.

"We didn't get robbed," Nate said. "just pick-pocketed."

"Hardison, can you track my phone?" Sophie asked.

"Sure girl, but I could just get you another one. See they got this new touch screen, with all these effects, you just gotta—"

"Ugh, that's not it, it's the _principle_ of the matter! If we let little pickpockets like this slide, what's to stop us from skipping over the next corrupt CEO? If we don't stop this guy now, he'll just steal from people who can't afford it like we can."

"Hardison, just track the phone," Nate said. "We'll find your stuff and maybe run a little something on our thief. Did you have anything in particular you wanted to get back, Sophie?"

"The lipstick would be nice."

Hardison picked up his laptop and plugged it up, fingers flying over keys as the monitors showed a GPS map of Boston slowly growing larger and larger. "Girl lost her phone and a diamond bracelet, but she wants the lipstick. I see where those priorities are."

"Oh, and I think I had a com or two stuck in there."

"Sophie, why didn't you say that in the first place," Hardison hit another key and the monitors shifted to a split-screen, one tracking the phone and the other with a sound frequency reader. "Now all we gotta do is see if they talk."

_Five minutes later…_

"Okay, I'm bored. Sophie, let's go find your phone." Parker hopped off the counter and grabbed Sophie by the arm. "Hardison, address?"

"4170 Cobble Hill Road. But guys, it looks like it's in the middle of the industrial park."

"Great, we'll be right back." Parker pulled Sophie along, grabbing the keys to Nate's Mercedes on the way out.

Eliot grunted. "You know she just—"

"Yeah, I got it. Thanks Eliot."

"Hey Nate, I'm picking up something on the com," Hardison enlarged the screen.

"Turn up the volume," Nate said

There was some static on the computer, and Hardison had to adjust the audio settings to get a good sound. Finally, the guys could just make out the voices over the com:

"How much did you get for the bracelet?" said voice number one.

"Three-thousand, enough for the new monitor and the converter," said a second one. This one was definitely female.

"Hey, I might like this girl," Hardison said.

"Shut up Hardison," Eliot and Nate said simultaneously.

"We still need another tablet for me to be able to see the building layout," said the first voice.

"We can go to the computer store, do the uh, happy birthday with that guy's money," this was a third voice. It didn't sound very sure of itself.

"No, not happy birthday. Try missing mommy instead. We need Cheyanne for happy birthday." This was the second voice again. She was obviously the leader, and Nate was starting to piece some things together from earlier that day.

"Pen, what else is in the bag?" the leader voice asked.

"Just this lipstick and a driver's license. Oh, wait Charlotte, what are these?"

More static.

"Guys, stop talking. Hand me that bag." There was more silence on the other side of the com for several seconds. Then the leader, Charlotte, Nate thought, started whispering. Hardison tweaked the frequency, enabling a patchy albeit present audio.

"Five minute evac, now."

"Charlotte, what's going on?" one of the other voices asked.

"This lady has two ID's, a lot of cash, and no traceable credit cards. The guy was only carrying cash in his wallet, too. Austin, nearest computer store within a four mile radius."

"On it, Charlotte."

"Hardison…"

"On it, Nate." Hardison pulled up a third screen, tracking the nearest computer store to the com's location.

"Be sure and grab the projectors, Pen. Now both of you come here."

The guys listened intently. This sounded just like something they would do. The only problem was, this was definitely not a crew they were used to confronting…

"Listen up," Charlotte said, still whispering. "Over there in that bag is a small device that looks like a hard piece of skin. If you ever see one, step on it or throw it in some water. It's a listening device, like Bluetooth, or a walkie, just really small."

"Walkie? Walkie-talkie my a—"

"Shut UP Hardison!"

"Why did that lady have it?" Pen asked. Nate was starting to recognize the voices now.

"With multiple ID's and cash… these people are criminals. And tech as good as that earpiece, they could be on their way right now. We've got to go get that monitor if we want everything to run smoothly at yCard."

Austin voice's, the deepest, finally spoke again. "Does this change the plan?"

"This changes nothing. Take Pen and run a missing mommy at the store. I'll meet you at the third safe house in a few hours. I've got something to take care of. Go, now."

"What about Cheyanne?" Pen asked.

"Pen, go. Cheyanne will be fine. I told you, this changes nothing. Now get!"

Nate, Eliot and Hardison waited silently. Nate finally put it all together. The teenage princess from earlier, she had deliberately hit Gerald. And then those boys from the playground across the street, running to some nonexistent parent at the café, had knocked Gerald into him. That's when they must of gotten his wallet. He was so focused on the girl, he missed the boys; it was a classic diversion tactic. He'd seen it a million times before when he'd chased professional thieves. But that was the problem. These people weren't professionals. They were kids. And teenage princess, wait, Charlotte, was their leader. She had a band of pickpockets on her hands, and they were into something.

The silence finally stopped, and Charlotte got on the com, speaking loudly and directly into the ear piece. "Hey! I don't know who this is, but yall better listen up."

Hardison had to turn down the volume.

"Look, we didn't know yall were running game. Sorry about that, hazard of the trade. Just… we spent your money and you can't get it back, so you shouldn't come looking for us. As for the bracelet, we pawned it at Smitty's on Rigby Avenue. Yall are conmen, I'm sure you can get it back. So no hard feelings, alright?" All they heard after the farewell speech was a giant crunch. The signal died on the monitor.

"Nate, you got ripped off by a bunch of kids, man!" Hardison said.

"Yeah, I sure did." Nate sat there, pondering the conversation. "Hardison, call Parker and tell them to forget the phone. Send them to the computer store instead. I want to know why those kids need all that equipment. And while you're at it, look up yCard. Tell me what it is, what it does, and why a bunch of kids are involved with it. Eliot, with me." He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "Text me the last known address of the coms. I want to see what I missed this morning."

_Reviews appreciated... :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry the update took so long. School started back *mixed emotions*. Any way, what a great finale to an awesome season. My only problem with it was that it was the finale. Which means new episodes won't be back for a while. Distress. I shall now use my Sunday nights to catch up on Downton Abbey. BTW, I don't own this. Devlin, Rogers, the writers, all those peeps. They own this. K bye._

"I still don't know what we're here for," Parker said. She blew on the glass at the computer storefront and drew an evil frowny face with her finger.

"Because, Nate said it has to do with who gamed us this morning. Stop that," Sophie said, swatting Parker's hand. "Apparently, it was a bunch of kids. We didn't recognize it because we weren't looking for it."

"The world's a rotten place when kids go bad," Parker said.

"Didn't you break into your first museum at fifteen?"

"Thirteen. What's it to you?"

Sophie just stared at her. "Never mind. Do you have a hair band?"

Parker handed her one, and she set about disguising herself. This consisted of a side ponytail and glasses.

"You look the same."

"They're kids Parker. They won't know I'm the mark from this morning. All adults look the same to them."

"What, like a couple of suckers?"

"Shut up."

They waited for ten minutes before going into the computer store. Luckily, they'd been around Hardison long enough to answer the sales associate's questions competently, which meant they could wander around the store without disturbance.

"Parker, two boys just came through the front door. Brown and black hair, in the little matching blazers," Sophie said into her new com.

"Got 'em. Should I do a lift?"

"No, not yet. We don't even know if they have anything on them. Go plant a bug on the little one, though."

While Sophie pretended to look at electronic tablets, Parker 'accidentally' bumped into the two kids coming in.

"Hey, sorry kid," she said.

"Who you calling kid, you old lady!"

Parker opened her mouth to retort.

"Parker, walk away," Sophie scolded.

She didn't want to, but Parker turned away from all four feet of what could be no more than an eight-year-old and headed back over to the tablets.

"Good job Parker. Your anger management is seriously improving."

"I could've taken him."

"I'm sure. Now be quiet and listen."

"… were needing a new flat-screen monitor for a Zenith operating system. Have to make sure it's compatible with what we have now, so all of our homework will transfer."

"You're like, eleven," the sales guy said incredulously. "Where's your mom?"

"In the car," the older boy said. "And I'm fourteen. My mom hates computers, so she sent me in to get the upgrade. I've been saving for a whole two years." The boy produced a wad of cash that made Parker jump just slightly. The salesperson did, too.

"You really shouldn't be carrying around that much cash," the salesman said.

"It's not like I do it all the time. Bobby, come here, you'll break something." The little boy came back and stood beside his 'brother'. "Look, we go to this school for gifted kids," he said, adjusting his tiny blazer so the salesman could see the school's crest on the lapel. "…and all of our homework requires this fancy software. I'm getting into my upper level classes, and I need another monitor. Now you can take my money and give me the monitor, or I can go across town to the other branch and help their sales."

The salesman shrugged. "I'll be right back." He went through a door behind the counter. The older boy quickly removed a lock pick from his pocket. "Pen, go get me two electronic tablets, and an external hard drive. Get a few USB's while you're at it, at least 30 gigs," he whispered.

The salesman came out of the back with a big box holding the monitor the older boy had asked for. The younger one called Pen was walking around the store, pretending to play with all the gadgets. This made it impossible for Sophie to hear what was going on at the counter.

"Parker, make sure the little one runs into you. I want you to see his face. I'm going to listen in at the counter."

Parker made her way around the store, much like Pen. She was good at looking interested at all the gadgets, partially because she was, and partially because she had a lot of practice doing recon in exceedingly boring environments. She stepped to a display case in the middle aisle and peered over, only to find Pen picking the lock on the other side of the table.

The kid had chosen well, she thought. She hadn't burgled retail in a while, but this location was prime. The angle was out of the way of the cameras, and in between two larger rows that provided limited visibility from other customers. Plus, he had the fact that he was a kid going for him. If anyone asked, he could just say he saw something shiny and wanted to mess with it. She hadn't been able to use that excuse for several years now.

Parker timed his pick: a minute twenty-seven. Thank goodness cash transactions took a while, cause this kid still had a long way to go as far as speed was concerned. He finally opened the bottom of the display case and knicked a tablet and an external hard drive. He opened up his tiny blazer only to reveal multiple pockets, the bigger ones he used to slip the tablet in. He opened the boxes of two USB's before his 'brother' made a show of finding him among the electronics in the store.

"Bobby! Bobby, let's go. You'll be late for basketball." The older boy had finished paying at the register and was 'looking' for his 'brother'.

Sophie slid next to Parker at the display case.

"Oh, he was good, Parker. Could've given Hardison a run for his money. So many specific questions about monitor capabilities, dual screen displays, and a lot of other jargon I didn't understand. He made the salesman pull out the manual!"

"Pen wasn't that bad either," Parker said, a little grin growing on her face. "He could work on his speed, but that'll come with age."

"Parker, these are the kids who stole my pocketbook, remember?"

"Right, sure. But it was still kinda cute."

"Let's watch the getaway, shall we?"

They exited the store and crossed the street, sitting on a bus stop bench. The bug Parker had planted on Pen was still working, so they could hear and see pretty much everything.

As the two boys approached the door, the alarm went off. Pen, not holding anything, kept walking through.

"What's wrong, Mat?" Pen asked. The salesman who had handled the transaction started for the door.

"Nothing, Bobby. Go find mom."

"They sure are giving a good show. Acknowledging the alarm makes it look like they're afraid of security measures; and paying for the largest item decreases suspicion for stealing smaller pieces." Sophie said.

"Shh, I want to hear how they get out of there."

"Hey, Mr. Kyle, can you come scan this thing," the older boy, 'Mat' asked. "I don't think it registered the first time. The stupid alarm's going off."

Mr. Kyle the salesman took the monitor back to the checkout counter.

"Hey ladies, what's shakin?" Hardison hopped over the bench and plopped himself between Sophie and Parker.

"We're watching these two kids about to walk away with over $500 in stolen merchandise. It's kinda awesome!" Parker said.

"You won't believe what Nate found," Hardison continued.

"Hush, we're about to see if he gets away with it," Sophie said.

They turned their attention back to their coms, which were transmitting the feed from the bug. Pen was propped up against the storefront window and turned as his 'brother' walked out. The alarm did not go off.

"Must have been something wrong when you scanned it the first time, Mr. Kyle," the older boy said. "Thanks for this."

"Whatever," the salesman said.

Pen and the older boy walked around the corner and into an alley.

"Did you get the other stuff?"

"I got the external hard drive, one tablet, and two USBs. Sorry I missed the other tablet, Austin."

"No worries. I really just wanted the tablet to play with. Now we gotta get all this stuff to the safe house. Let's go find a car."

"No, Austin, I don't want to take another one."

"Then what do you suggest we do? It's at least five miles to the third safehouse."

"Can't we just ride the bus? I saw a stop around the corner."

"Is it out of range from the store? I told that guy our 'mom' was waiting in the car."

"Yeah, I think. We can just sit behind the bench. The route through here runs every ten minutes, so it shouldn't take long to catch one."

"Alright, let's go. This thing is heavy. And I don't like walking around with a computer monitor in its brand new box for anybody to see. I might as well have a sign that says 'come and mug me'."

The three adults took this as their cue to vacate the bus stop bench. They walked around the corner to Hardison's car.

"Parker, Nate wants you to follow them and see where their next safehouse is," Hardison said.

"This seems like a waste of time. Yes, they're kids who can steal things. I've read _Oliver Twist_, I know how this goes. Do we really need to get involved?" Sophie asked.

"Nate thinks there's something bigger going down. Check it out." Hardison pulled up the website for yCard on an electronic tablet, the same that Austin and Pen had just stolen. "yCard, Incorporated is a major player in virtual simulation programming and competitions."

"You mean video games," Parker said.

"Girl, this goes so far beyond video games. I'm talking NASA simulators, hands-free surgeries, military mission recreations. This company has got contracts with the DOD, the FBI, the SEC, pretty much every letter combination you can find on Sesame Street, ya know?"

"But what does yCard have to do with these kids?" Sophie asked.

"That's just it. We overheard them on the coms talking about a job at yCard. There were three of them then, but it sounds like some other kid is involved, too."

"What do a they have to do with a multi-million dollar virtual simulation company?" Parker asked.

"That's what Nate wants to find out," Hardison said. "Parker, he needs you to follow the boys to their safe house and let us know where they are. He wants to do some come-to-Jesus confrontation about stealing and stuff when you find them."

"So you mean I should go catch their bus."

"Right," Hardison said.

"Uh, Parker…" Sophie pointed out the window as the bus with the boys pulled off.

"Great," she said, bolting out of the car. "A little more warning next time Hardison!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"You think she'll catch it?" Sophie asked.

"Wait for it… There she goes."

"No one can balance on a bumper as well as that girl."

"Word."

_Reviews appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

_The story-arc coagulates... Or the plot thickens. Tomato tomato. Don't own. TNT, Mr.D, Rogers_, _Downey, they own this stuff. Enjoy :)_

"How was the computer store?" Nate asked. The monitors held a few pictures of what looked to be an empty warehouse, but Sophie and Hardison situated themselves in front of them out of habit.

"Educational," Sophie said. "Makes me long for the days of the simple con."

"Simple? I gave up on simple when this guy walked through the door," Eliot said, gesturing to Hardison.

"Hey, now, that hurts man. Hurts me deep."

"Did you find anything wherever you went?" Sophie asked.

"Nothing useful. They did leave us my wallet and your pocket book. I've got an apology note, too."

"An apology note? Remorseful little buggers aren't they? Any prints from the note?" Sophie asked.

"Nope," Hardison said, sliding behind his laptop. "Nothing useable anyway."

"The place was wiped clean; these kids had a legitimate evacuation plan from the warehouse," Eliot said.

"Aren't we all missing the bigger picture?" Sophie said. "Why are kids in a warehouse in the first place?"

Nate crossed the room and leaned on the counter over looking the couches. "You focus on the bigger picture, I'll focus on the biggest. I'm more concerned with what they're doing with yCard. Pick-pocketing… eh, that something you grow out of. But messing with corporations? As a teenager? Something more is going on here." Nate touched his ear to check his com. "Parker, you've been stationary for the last fifteen minutes. Did you find where they're staying?"

Parker's voice filled everyone's coms. "Yeah, they're down here in this office building on 10th Avenue. The whole floor's under construction, but they've tapped into the existing security feed for the floors above and below the one they're on, and the elevator and stairwell feeds. They have four monitors with at least sixteen security shots set up on rotation. They've got this big white board with pictures, schematics, and like, a gillion Lunchables on the table. They even have hammocks hanging from the exposed two-by-fours! Nate, I want to play!"

"Not yet, wait until we get there," Nate said. "Hardison, get the tracker and the car. Let's not keep Parker waiting."

"Nate, if they have that many feeds, how did she make it onto the floor?" Eliot asked.

"If I know Parker, she didn't. I'll bet you anything she's hanging outside their window."

* * *

><p>It didn't take them long to get to the business district and spot the building. Even in the dark, they could make out Parker's dangling form waving at them as they exited the car. From her position, Nate determined the kids were on the twelfth floor. There were only two guards at the front; nothing they couldn't handle.<p>

Hardison and Eliot took two bags out of the car and changed into jeans, flannel and hard hats. Sophie added a briefcase and Nate just buttoned his coat. Nate took out his phone and walked in the front door, followed closely by the other three.

"I don't care if it costs five _hundred_ thousand, construction doesn't stop! How am I supposed to run a business when I don't even have an office!" Nate jammed the 'end' button violently on his fake phone call as the guard approached.

"I'm sorry sir, but the building is closed for the night."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, I _own_ part of this building sir," Nate said, acting overly exasperated. "Christine, take care of this for me." He waved at Sophie and went to talk and point at the walls with Hardison.

Sophie sashayed over to the guard.

"I'm so sorry we're late, but we've got to get this spot check done," she said, choosing an American accent this time.

"Spot check? We don't have anything scheduled…"

"Well that's the point of a spot check, silly," she said, batting the plump guard's arm with as much flirtatious energy as she could muster. "Listen, Mr. Crawley is going to blow a gasket if he can't get up there and check out the office space progression. We even made the contractors stay late so he could get the tour," she said, motioning to Hardison and Eliot. Hardison was holding up what looked like a stud finder. It was really a device that scrambled the security feed, enabling him to put the video on a loop so no one would notice if the elevator was moving. "We'll be an hour, two at the most. We just want to see the floor layouts of the finished offices and compare them to the ones under construction. We've already spoken with the floor supervisors, they signed off on it this morning."

"We haven't heard anything about that," the guard said, though obviously swayed.

"Check the fax," Sophie cooed.

The guard puffed out his chest as he walked away, and Sophie followed demurely behind him. Thankfully, the faxes Hardison had forged and sent were time stamped from nine that morning.

"You're right, miss…"

"Christine."

"Christine. Just make sure the contractors escort you at all times in the areas under construction. We're really not supposed to let anyone up there."

"It's not me you have to worry about," Sophie said, leaning seductively over the guard's counter. "But I'll keep Mr. Crawley in line. Thank you so much…"

"Bill."

"Bill. Thank you."

She turned on her heel and rounded up her men toward the elevator. It's safe to say the guards watched her walk away.

* * *

><p>Once in the elevator, Nate turned up his com. "Parker, you can climb in now. Go into the room beside them, then overhead through the vents."<p>

"Where will you come through?"

"The front door," Nate said.

"Why can't I just walk through the front door?"

"They need to know who they're dealing with," Nate answered. The elevator pinged, and they stepped out onto the twelfth floor. Everything was dark. Nate couldn't tell which office they were in. He bet the kids had sealed the door so no light would stream into the hallway, and would have to complement them on that later. In his mind's eye he saw the outside of the building, and guided the crew off of this mental layout, aided by Eliot's super-human hearing. Nate took the crew down the hall to what seemed to be the kid's room. Eliot put his ear to the door and nodded. He tried the handle, but it didn't turn. Since Parker was in the rafters, they'd have to do this the old fashioned way. Nate nodded at Eliot and he knocked the door through with one kick.

The three kids were sitting on the floor and didn't have time to react before Nate, Sophie, Eliot and Hardison walked through the door, materializing in a cloud of sheet rock dust.

"Hi kids," Nate said. "I brought pizza."

* * *

><p>The room was bare and cold. But among the dry wall and padded insulation, the kids had stocked up. The entire right side of the room held electronics. Nothing like Hardison had, but advanced enough to pull off minor jobs. Near the window was a massive white board, with notes and pictures of a few people held up with animal magnets. There were four hammocks hanging from the exposed rafters, as Parker said. The only sign that kids stayed there was the corner full of junk food wrappers and the stuffed cow hanging out of one of the hammocks.<p>

"Pen, Austin, come here," the girl said. She grabbed a black thing off the table and held it up to the adults. "Look, I don't know what you want. But just leave us alone, ok? I'll use this thing."

"Do you want me to...?"

"No, that's okay Eliot. Parker!" Nate called.

Parker popped her head out from the hammock hanging above the children and grabbed the taser from the girl. She scoffed as she somersaulted down. "This isn't even a good one. Charlotte, right?" Parker threw it to Nate and went to stand beside Eliot and Hardison. The five of them sure looked evil, staring down three kids in a corner.

"I wasn't kidding about that pizza," Nate said. He seemed to pull a box from thin air and put it on the table, making sure not to cover their blue prints.

Pen stepped out from behind Charlotte, sniffing. "Do you have pepperoni?"

"Pen!"

"What? That guy with the long hair is really big, and you lost the taser. If I'm getting taken, I might as well have pizza first." Pen plodded out from behind Charlotte and sat at the table. He put some antibacterial soap on his hands and opened the box. Deciding the youngest had the best logic, Charlotte and Austin quickly succumbed to the smell of greasy cheese.

"My name is Nathan Ford," Nate said, raising a hand to Charlotte.

"Charlotte," she said, shaking it tentatively.

"We know," Sophie said.

"And I guess you're not," Charlotte paused as she looked at Sophie's fake IDs. "…Camille Baroni or Allison Jordan?"

"No, my name is Sophie."

Austin went over to check the security monitors and came away dumbfounded.

"Yeah, sorry about that man," Hardison said. "I scrambled the feed and looped it back so you wouldn't see us coming."

"Oh. Well I, didn't think… sorry Charlotte," Austin said.

"We'll talk about this later," she said.

The kids looked tired. They weren't dirty, underfed or sickly, but Nate could see that life hadn't been good to them. He no longer pictured the bratty teenage princess from that morning. Her brown hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and her designer bag and outfit discarded for sweats and converses. She was like a mini-Parker. The boys wore big coats, and those private school blazers rested over behind the kicked-in door. As Nate thought, they had used them to block the lamplight from the room.

"So what do you want?" Charlotte asked, with a mouthful of pizza. "We said we were sorry about your wallet. And I really am sorry about that dress. It was fabulous."

"I'll get another one," Sophie answered.

"You're not normal people," Austin countered, taking a swig of Mountain Dew from a two-liter bottle. "Normal people don't hack security feeds."

"But awesome people do! Holla," Hardison said, fist-bumping Eliot.

The kids just stared at them with blank faces.

"We over heard some of your conversation earlier today," Nate started, hoping the kids would fill him in. When he was met with silence, he continued. "Something about a job at yCard."

Pen glanced at Charlotte, looking like he was about to cry.

"Parker, take Pen over there and work on his speed with that lock pick. He needs some practice," Nate said.

Parker nodded. "Come on scooter, lemme show you what a real torque wrench looks like."

Pen grabbed his cow from his hammock before retreating to the corner with Parker.

"I've got a rabbit like that," she said. It was the first time Pen had smiled all night.

"Hardison," Nate called. "Show Austin how you scrambled the feed. Or at least give him the code for it."

"No prob," Hardison said. Austin grabbed his Mountain Dew and sat down at the make-shift console next to Hardison. A two-liter orange soda sat beside the Mountain Dew, and soon the clicks of keys filled the room.

"Eliot."

"Yep."

"We're probably going to be a while. Take care of the guards."

Eliot huffed and turned on his heel, murmuring something about a very distinct choke hold.

Nate and Sophie sat at the table with Charlotte. "You're smart enough to know that taking on a job at yCard is crazy," Nate said. "That is, unless you have to do it. What is it that you're about to steal, and who are you stealing it for?"

_Would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who has favorited or reviewed or both. In honor of this show, I have successfully learned how to pick a lock. Hey, look at that, no lock on the review button... Just sayin' :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry it took so long to update, but this one's a little bit longer. Thanks again to everyone who's stuck with this so far! The actual infiltration will come in the next chapter. Usual disclaimer: Don't own, TNT does, I cry about it, so what. Enjoy :)_

"So we're doing a basic lift in the business district. Practically the same thing we ran on yall this morning," Charlotte started. She then moved to the corner and rolled the white board over to where Nate and Sophie could see. "Turns out, we're really bad at picking marks. Well, good and bad. We always get the swanky people."

"You hear that Nate, we're swanky."

"Sophie…"

"Anyway," Charlotte continued. "We ran a pick on Andrew Bates, VP of Sales at Xyler Sim. I only went for him because he had cufflinks. You can always tell by the cufflinks. The thing is, we usually have one more with us, Cheyanne." She nodded toward a limp hammock, this one with a faded, stuffed unicorn sticking out of it. "She's the youngest. Only five. But man, can she cry on cue." She paused, contemplating the board. "Give her a few more years and she'd be better than me."

"How old are you?" Nate asked.

"Sixteen."

"And the others?"

"Austin's twelve going on forty, and Pen's just eight."

"Austin, Cheyanne, Charlotte…" Sophie said. "Those aren't your real names?"

"Ha, no. I'm from North Carolina, see. Same with Austin: Texas. Pen, that's Pennsylvania. No names. That way it would be easier to walk away if one us got…" Charlotte exhaled slowly. "There's this code, you see. Don't get involved. But Pen and Cheyanne, they're too young. If me and Austin get separated, that's life, you know? Maybe we'll come across each other some day. But five years old? Or eight? They can't do it. And they're not going back to where they came from, not if I can help it. You just don't do those things to kids…"

Parker didn't move from her corner, but she was listening intently. Sophie caught her chewing the inside of her cheek, eyes glistening.

"Go on," Nate prodded. "What about this Bates guy, what's with him?"

"Bates is ruthless. And in a lot of trouble." Charlotte got up from the table and aimed a projector at the blank wall. "Austin, pull up Bates' file for me."

A PowerPoint slide of a graying forty-something in a suit popped up on the screen. He was the kind of guy Nate took down. One that made you want to punch him in the face for no real reason.

"So we're running the pick on Bates, going for the wallet and the watch, if we're lucky," Charlotte says. "But he catches us. Well, he catches me. And I've always told Austin, if one of us gets caught, it's okay to get lost. As long as it's not the younger ones." Charlotte threw a glance over at Pen in the corner, who was entranced in a Masterlock pick set with Parker as his coach. "But instead of handing me over to juvie or child services, he offers me a job. Says he'll pay me fifty grand if I can knick this software from yCard. He even has my way in and everything."

"Never good, letting the clients control the game. Gives them too much power, goes to their head," Nate said.

"As if he needed a bigger ego. Anyway, yCard is hosting a preview/testing day for their youth games, where kids come in and play the video games and tell the surveyors what they think. 'Yes, blowing up this person was cool.' 'No, I didn't like that car.' 'No, a yellow sponge is not a captivating character.' And so on. That was my in. He gave me the blue prints to the building, all we had to do was beat the security system." She placed a manual in front of Nate.

"An Iro 5. That's a challenging system, especially with your resources, no offense Austin," Nate said.

"None taken."

"Who's your thief?" Nate asked.

"We all pull different jobs," Charlotte said. "We've never done anything this big before, though. Pen can pick locks and crack a few simple vaults, but we mainly run on the short con. We were sort of banking on Austin's virus and Bates' help to get us through the system."

"But Bates backed off?"

"Quite the opposite. He's still on us, but now we don't get paid." She hit a button on a clicker, and the PowerPoint slide changed to a map of Xyler Sim offices in Boston. "Bates has lost a lot of money this year at Xyler Sim, championing failing projects and losing a big bid with the DOD to yCard."

"Where did you get all this information?" Nate asked.

"The news," Austin said. "And Google."

Nate raised an eyebrow at Hardison.

"Google, huh? Google, that's cute… real cute—"

"Hardison."

"Shutting up."

"Bates knows yCard is about to release a new virtual simulator software that will enable the military to run week and month-long virtual missions, allowing for calculations down to the proverbial millisecond for the nation's defensive strategies." Charlotte clicked to the next slide. It was just a picture of the Pentagon and a bombing sound effect. Nate glanced at her. "It helps Pen understand the jobs better. So, we're all set to steal the software, but Bates doesn't want us backing out on the deal."

"So he takes Cheyanne as collateral," Nate finished.

"Exactly. And if we don't get the software, we don't get Cheyanne."

"Or the money, can't forget about the money," Parker added.

"That's my second plan," Charlotte said, hitting another button. "We'll have to go into Xyler Sim offices to make the tradeoff with Cheyanne. While we're there, might as well get what we're owed. We'll have access to the accounting department and the permission of one of the VPs to be there. Getting access is half the con. We'll be able to transfer some funds once we're in with no foreseeable problems."

"Forseeable… right. Well, that seems easy enough," Nate said.

"Nate," Sophie said. "We'd be going in blind here. I mean, slide shows with sound effects are great, but we don't have nearly enough background on this guy to manage anything remotely successful."

"We've done much more with much less, and…" he pulled Sophie over to the side. "There's never been a kid's life at stake like this. Or for that matter, four kids. Sophie, we've got to get them out of the game while they're still young. I say, we help them steal the software, that way we can get Cheyanne back and some money." He pulled her still further from Charlotte, not liking the eagle eye she was giving him. "Maybe we can find a place for them that's out of the system."

"Why not just steal the girl and the money outright? Why go through the trouble of stealing the software first?" Sophie asked.

"We need to make it look like _they_ pulled off the job. That way Bates thinks them capable of infiltrating a Fortune 500 company. If he believes they can take yCard, what's to stop them from taking Xyler Sim? He won't come looking for them again once the job is done."

"And the software? We'll have to steal it back from Bates and get it back to yCard?"

"Of course."

"Nate, I can't help but feel you might be a bit too involved in this. You know Sam was—"

"That's not what this is about."

"Then why does it sound so complicated?"

"It's really not," Nate said. He walked over to Pen and crouched down next to him. "Hey Pen, can I borrow your cow?"

"Sure."

"Alright, say I'm yCard, and I've got the software." Nate shook Pen's stuffed cow in Sophie's face. "I don't know how great a toy I have, until I neglect it." He set it down on the table. Parker, having caught onto Nate's game, crawled out from under the table and grabbed the cow. "Now that I know what I'm missing though," Nate said, eyeing the cow, "I want it back. It's just a matter of back-and-forth, Sophie. Child's play, really."

* * *

><p>Nate ended up extracting the group from the drafty office under construction. Eliot had applied an effective yet moderately safe chokehold on the guards that left them passed out across the front desk.<p>

"They'll wake up eventually," he said to Nate.

"How do you know?" Austin asked, as they exited the lobby.

"It's a very distinctive hold."

Back at McRory's, the adults headed on through, but the kids stopped outside at the top of the steps.

"What's wrong?" Parker asked.

"We can't go in there," Pen said.

"Why not?"

"It's a bar," Pen said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, which it was.

"Nate, they've got a point," Parker said.

"You pickpocket wallets everyday and you're about to break into a maximum security building to steal top-secret government software. And you're trying to tell me you won't go into a bar?" Nate asked.

"We're underage. Plus, alcohol is just bad in general," Austin said, pulling up a diagram of alcohol's chemical composition on his tablet. "It's been scientifically proven to alter behavior and increase depression, especially for kids. It affects the brain, and therefore one's decision-making abilities. Adults start doing things they wouldn't normally do… when they drink." Austin quickly broke eye contact with everyone.

"God, it's like Sophie and Hardison had a kid," Eliot said to Nate.

"One that's too smart for his own good," Nate said. "Come on up anyway guys. I own the bar and live above it. We've got to get to the apartment to use our equipment."

The kids didn't look thrilled to be shuffled into an unfamiliar bar with a couple of criminal masterminds. But shuffled they were, and remained close to each other as if wolves would suddenly pop out and carry them off. When no wolves appeared, they followed the crew and headed for the staircase. Austin lagged a bit behind, surveying the bar characters in and around the establishment. Nate ducked behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of scotch, only to put it back when he met Austin's analytical gaze.

"Scientifically proven… increase depression my ass," he mumbled, climbing the staircase and entering the non-kid-friendly apartment. The three newest additions huddled closely on the couch, but their eyes darted to every inch of the room, observing, watching, planning. They were casing the place right in front of the adults.

"First things first," Sophie said. "We need a run down of your plan, from top to bottom, and access to all of your material. Schematics, blue prints, software, communication system, we need to know everything you're doing, down to the last footstep out the door. We want to make sure this looks like you guys pulled this off, but we also want to provide assistance wherever we can."

"No unnecessary risks, no factors unaccounted for; we run a pretty tight ship here," Nate said.

Parker laughed and received stares from everyone in the room. "What? We know that's not true," Parker said.

Nate sighed and continued. "Charlotte, run down please."

"All three of us head into yCard headquarters. The registration and orientation for the preview day is in a ballroom on the second floor. Austin, can you pull up the building layout?"

"Yep," he said, digging in his backpack and then pausing. "Uh, Hardison? Can I use your computer?"

"Here, this one's got an advanced operating system that hasn't even been released yet."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Hardison said, holding up a closed fist for a fist bump.

Austin recoiled slightly, staring at his hand. He shifted his focus to the screen, pulling up a 3-D blueprint of yCard headquarters.

"Austin and I will be taken to floor three, and put into one of these four rooms," Charlotte said. Four rooms on the schematic flashed in bright neon colors, each with a big X on it. "Pen will be taken to the fifth floor, into one of these rooms." The lights flashed again, but only on two rooms.

"Why the separation?" Nate asked.

"The ten and under groups test separate games from the teens. Austin looks closer in age with me than he does with Pen. Now, these video game test days are run by interns, literally, babysitters for us. There's practically no security on the first five floors, which consists of low-level offices and screening rooms. The security is proportional to the floor, with the upper-level exec offices starting on floor seven and the computer-research labs at ten and above. There are security patrols in the research lab hallways every hour, with at least three guards on the move in a series of seven-hour shifts."

"Uh, girl, I don't mean to slow your roll or anything, but just how do you know all of this?" Hardison asked.

"We did a bit of recon last week. We found this programming VP, uh, Carl Brighton, who was out for the afternoon, and got access to restricted company information," Charlotte said.

"He got food poisoning at lunch," Pen chimed in.

"That's right he did. So he had to leave, but the previous day, he had sent his secretary a memo about the 'Bring your Kid to Work Day' plan he had with his daughter. At least, Austin sent it from Mr. Brighton's email, and that got me an upper level visitor's pass for a good two hours." Charlotte smirked. "Which meant I had access to all of the upper levels except for the storage facility on the top floor. There are keypads with swipe card access in the stairwells on every floor, but there's very little security there. Nearly all of the patrols are close to the elevators. I go up, distract the guards, and Pen does his thing. There is, however, the problem of the cameras," Charlotte said.

"That's me," Austin said. "I've created two viruses to dump in on the security system server and the building's main network. It can scramble the feed from all of the cameras for a while and disable some of the keypads, at least long enough to have access to top floor storage. Now, at a company like this, nearly all of the main computers are connected to a universal web system, so all I need is one computer to dump the virus in, and all the rest will be infected because they're all on the same network."

"That leaves a lot to chance, though," Nate said.

"What do you mean?" Austin asked.

"At a company like this, they've surely got spyware to combat your basic virus."

Austin tensed a little. "This isn't your basic virus… I've broken into banks with this!"

"And what if the virus in the security system fails to unlock the keypads? What are your contingency plans?" Nate finished.

"Well, if the stairwell was blocked, we were going to go old fashion and stick Pen up in some air vents," Charlotte said.

"Yes!" Parker said. "Good plan, I like it. Go with B." This earned her even more stares from the group. "Or not… Plan A sounded good, too."

"Who'd be physically lifting the file?" Nate asked.

"Pen would. He's the smallest, and he doesn't have a record yet," Charlotte said. She lowered her voice and turned to Sophie. "If Austin or I get one more strike, we'll be sent to adult court."

Sophie nodded and addressed the room. "Well, I will say, that plan is doable. Simplicity is always preferred. But no plan is full-proof, and no plan is successful if the players are about to fall out from exhaustion, so, up you go." Sophie gestured to the winding staircase in the middle of the room. "Up the stairs, take a right, first two doors in the hallway are spare rooms. What time does the preview registration start?"

"Nine," Charlotte said, hesitating slightly, conceding once she saw Pen's head start to droop. "But we need to be there at least an hour early. For prep."

"You'll be there in time," Sophie said. "You'll be up much earlier, though. I think we might, tweak a few things."

"Tweak?" Austin asked.

"Don't worry about it. If anything happens to the plan, you'll know," Nate said.

"Go on boys," Charlotte said. "I'll be right up."

The boys headed up the stairs and Charlotte took a glance at them. She leaned against the stairwell. "Mr. Ford, we really appreciate what you're doing for us. But we've run game before. Nothing of this caliber, but big enough. We can take care of ourselves, and we don't expect charity." She turned, and headed up the stairs. "Just cause we're young, that doesn't make us children. We bypassed child-status years ago." She disappeared up the stairs.

"She's scary," Parker said.

"Not scary, scared," Sophie offered. "She's been burned one too many times and she gets defensive at outside help. Her plan, it's good, but… too many holes. Like Nate said, she doesn't have a lot of room for error. She's probably used to it just being her. Working with multiples complicates things, and she hasn't compensated for having two other people in on the con. They're good, but too young for improvisation should something go south. They didn't even talk about the vault, let alone a security system like the Iro 5."

"We'll shadow them, then." Nate said.

"Shadow them?" Eliot asked.

"Yeah. Shadow. Guide. Call it what you will. We'll lead them along the path that avoids jail time. If they start to stray or pull something too risky, it's our job to push them back on their way."

"You mean we're taking over their job?" Parker asked.

"We're stealing it," Hardison said.

Nate cocked his head to the side, looking at the basic plans on the computer monitors. They were good kids, with a good plan, but for something like this, good wasn't good enough. They needed great. Which is where they come in.

"You're right, Hardison. Let's go steal a theft."

_Reviews appreciated, as are Robinhood-like vigilantes with technologically progressed equipment and drinking disorders! _


End file.
